Droid Trainer

+

• you did a lot of work 11
• nice demos 5 good presentation 10
• app is valuable even as an information resource
• user tests at the gym are effective
• web companion would be great
• like the “exercise body part”
• like video/audio instructions
• I need/want this app 4
• nice website 6
• great graphics, photography and design 6
• very nice and simple interface 4
• like “select fitness goal”
• multimedia is very successful 3
• great working prototype 2

-

• show app before talking about usability problems
• went over on time 2
• had a hard time demoing touch screen
• audio/video buttons look like they prompt recording 6
• looks hard to click “shoulders” or “obliques”
• audio should have been put in website for better display 2
• spent too much time explaining previous milestones
• should have recorded demo to save time
• stars for rating are small

?

• where do people place the phone when they are at the gym?
• “log” is both a noun and a verb – does it allow me to input data? or show me the log? confusing.

design suggestions

• show only half of the front and half of the back of the human body to save space
• provide audio and video at the same time 3
• rather than data entry, do a slider
• color code muscle groups
• stars should be white on the left and orange on the right
• offer anatomy charts based on gender 2

Project

• Liked presentation on emulator/SDK, easier to see 6
• Great process 4
• Great visuals 11
• Great interaction design 2
• Good methodology of user testing  4
• Great juxtaposition of lo-fi and hi-fi 6
• Good axure prototype 3
• Liked audio concept
• Great cool down timer 2
• Scan equipment- great implementation of technology 2

Presentation

• clear and easy to understand 2
• Good presenter

Website

• Love new home 2
• Liked use of website during presentation

Improvement

• Main page call to actions look the same , too many buttons, add icons, minimize text (a & by).   6
• 3D images are creepy
• “Next” icon would be better than “Finish”
• Give users the option of selecting a specific workout.
• Could you show status of workout in a more detailed way than 1 of 5.
• Consider option to hide timer
• Click to initiate the timer
• Consider having a woman model 2
• Perhaps animation instead of photograph 2
• Allowing people to vote on favorite exercises while they do them
• Could use more visuals to communicate messages to users.
• Description of Exercises can be more distinctive
• Be more consistent with fonts
• Color or Droid icon clashes with black/hardcore aesthetic
• Use accelerometer for rep count
• Narrow scope of project

Lo-fi Prototype Comments

The class provided a broad range of comments about our the aesthetics and functionality of our proposed Android application. Overall, we received positive remarks about the design and features of our lo-fi prototype which include audio, video, use of the menu button.  However some commented that we could use more color in our prototype.  We didn’t think that it was necessary to use color at the preliminary stages of our design and focused primarily on sketching out the workflows and interactions. However, we are now considering the use of color to enhance our design. Additionally, the feedback provided us a list of things to consider, such as how we will use screen adjustment from when the phone is held horizontally or vertically.

Presentation

The class commented that our presentation was clean, the graphics/photos we used were effective, and the way in which we presented the workflows was great. However, it would have been more effective to tie our various features into one cohesive screen so that the audience would see what options a user would have on the home screen.

• Nice process photos
• TMI?
• Pre-choose what to present / rehearsal.
• Nice drill down into your interface however
• Paper prototype could use more color 2
• Option available are clear
• Good speaker!
• Describing workflow was effective
• Compiling a list of features
• How do know if I am in beginner mode? Intermediate?
• Nice graphics! Very clean prototype
• Could you use more arrows to show movement from one screen to the other
• Try to tie together the various features into one screen, see how they tie together
• Photos could be brighter
• More time should be devoted to the interface, less on process.

Website

• Aesthetics look bland, the columns are too wide.
• Great site. Clean! 2
• Good use of the website.

Question/Recommendations for functionality

• What distinguishes your app from others?
• Could this be for only people who are training? User profile seems only useful for power users. 2
• Recommended workout option? 2
• Are you thinking about screen adjustment (horizontal vs vertical)?
• Could you show movement with arrows
• Look into flow chart software, graphics program for lo-fi.
• Look into attachment points. Consider physical interaction with the android device when people are working out.
• How will this motivate user?

Project Scope/Milestone 3

Overall, people liked how we followed the process and allowed the data to support the focus of our design. They commented on our choice of personas and how we able to cover a wide demographic. One person mentioned that we might need to narrow our target audience to a demographic that falls within a specific fitness level.

• Great job refocusing project from data 4
• Good choice of attributes and variety of personas 7
• Workouts/scenarios are relevant to life stage   2
• Deep understanding of demographics 1
• First group to present a non-white persona 1
• Personas may be too stereotypical 1
• Wants to hear specific scenarios of personas 1
• Wide range of fitness level- may need to narrow it down 1
• Want to see a competitive analysis of fitness apps 1
• What is the product? 1

Presentation

Overall, we received positive remarks about our presentation. Two people mentioned that we should have incorporated more of our team into the presentation, but we felt it would be more efficient to have a single presenter due to inevitable time constraints.

• Great presentation  4
• Clear presentation 2
• Speaker did a good job keeping audience engaged 1
• Should involve all team member in presentation 2
• Could improve on presentation 1

Visuals

We received mostly posititive feedback for our visuals. Six people mentioned that the display of text was too narrow and required too much scroll. We have addressed this issue by expanding the width of our layout.

• Great PDF/Website 14
• Photos of personas are great  2
• Nice Android logo 1
• Quotes were helpful 1
• Great sketches of personas (brainstorming)  1
• Text is too long on the website (requires too much scrolling) 6

Fitness Bar

It may have been better to more clearly describe what we meant by “Fitness Level.” Some of the audience felt that the term was ambiguous. We might want to use a more descriptive term like “General overall fitness” or define our terms explicitly.

In response to our group presentation for Milestone 1, most evaluators lauded our project focus as being cogent and well-defined.  However, a few felt that the user group maybe too large for a class project or slightly scattered.  The scope of our project is presently limited to students in universities, specifically the University of Michigan due to our enrollment here and our access to its resources.  We believe that this is an appropriate scope for the project because it is unequivocally defined and confined to a group of users that have an evidenced interest in physical activities and to which we have ready access.  Additionally, we have contacted several Recreational Sports faculty members and have been well-received and have garnered support through our interviews and in project overviews.

Evaluators also voiced a concern that our solution, an Android platform mobile application, is perhaps too parochial and that it may be redundant with services such as Twitter.  We can partly address this concern by merging the Android application with a website such that they exhibit some parallel functionality and design.  In so doing, people without an Android capable device can still utilize the application.  The redundancy of services can be utilized to the advantage of the application by relaying messages simultaneously across multiple networks.  In other words, our application could send Twitter updates for a particular user if it is desired.  We should stress, however, that these features are not concrete and will likely morph during the course of development and as we become more acclimated to the Android platform.

Incentives were coyly mentioned by some evaluators but it is valid to mention in this context.  We feel that the ability of users to connect to and be easily informed of the activities of their friends is a sufficient incentive to use the application.  However, it may be possible to implement a game that provides more tangible incentives to users.  We do not currently have any plans to implement such a game but it will be considered.

In regards to our presentation, many said that the presenter seemed nervous and that we needed to work on timing.  We realize that public speaking is a skill that develops over time and with practice; we will be more mindful of preparing in advance.  On a positive note, however, people commented that the presenter’s speaking pace was “terrific” and that the problem was clearly stated. Others commented that the presentation itself seemed “a bit scattered” due to our grasp of the solution.  In retrospect, we realize that we were a bit aggressive in coming up with our solution because our user research should ultimately inform the design of our system

Most of our evaluators commented that they liked our website, focusing specifically on the site aesthetics and were highly appreciate of our creative Android icons.  A few mentioned that they found the right module to be distracting, and in response we have lowered the module so that it is not as prominent.  Aside from the comments in our evaluations, we noticed that many teams incorporated several great visuals to help illustrate their problem; we hope to do the same with our site.

September 21, 2009, 8:30pm

Agenda

1. Wordpress: Introduction led by Adrienne
2. Brainstrm Team Name: Possible names – RecFinder, ActiveSearch,  IMactive, IM Active, Active IM.  We liked IM Active but the name was already taken so we went with Active IM. Active is an action word that really captures what we want out users to be in response to out application. IM can be interpreted as  “Inter-Mural sports”, “Instant Messaging” and “I’m” as in “I’m Active.”
3. Review Web Content: Project Scope/Solution/Client & Stakeholders

Notes

• Users are afraid of commitment. This allows user to participate in recreational activities without having to invest time or money into paying registration fee, etc. [We would need research to validate this argument]
• To create an application the encourages participation without making user feel forced into recreational activities.
• To incorporate a rating system that for level of expertise for the different activities (i.e. someone who wants to run for fun, training for a marathon)
• Target Audience: Anyone willing to be active (ie. competitive, casual, etc.)
• Potential Clients:  University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports, UMove (both have a structured enrollment and registration process in place).

Introducing our team: ActiveIM

Below are pictures of us hard at work putting together website content.